Richelle Jamieson, 24, the daughter of Graham and Marie Jamieson, was praised for her craftmanship at the recent 2014 Queensland Jewellery Apprentice of the Year Awards.

Not only did she place first in the competition - which pitted her against apprentice jewellers from Queensland and the Northern Territory, she also emerged from the evening with a first placing for the technical aspects of the pieces she created, a first for her design folio and a second placing in overall design.

With the theme “Poison” Richelle created a pair of earrings, ring and bracelet using a combination of nine carat yellow gold, nine carat white gold and a black ruthenium plated sterling silver.

The stones in the pieces included diamonds, green sapphires, pink sapphires, tsavourite garnets, black diamonds and labradorite.

The diamond studs in the earrings were detachable and could be worn separate from the rest of the earring. 

The poison ring featured a hand cut mirror on the inside and the bangle featured a Lily of the Valley botanical design with a box clasp and hinge to fit securely around the wrist.

Richelle, who works at Argyle Jewellers in Brisbane, was adorned in a $20,000 sterling silver corset made by master jewellers, Jacqueline Bullock and Adrian Crosby when she stepped up on stage to claim her awards.

Speaking to The Witness last week she said she was blown away by the outcome.

“I didn’t get the pieces finished in time for judging,” Richelle said, “I thought that would have worked against me, but in the end the judges asked me to complete it because they were so impressed with the design.”

She said it took her five weeks to complete the set, which was inspired by plants and animals.

Graham Jamieson, who attended the ceremony, said he was very proud of his daughter.

“She always liked arty things,” he said, adding that she was always making bits and pieces as child.

He said it proved his oft-uttered adage that all roads lead to something.

“I mean Richelle studied graphic design, and then bookbinding and then became an apprentice jeweller - all these skills were needed in this competition,” he said.

“When she won it was a shock for all of us - a good shock of course,” he said laughing.